The Time Trap Close works best with larger ticket items such as retirement plans, or long-term investments. Your goal with it is to get people to admit they need to take action today to ensure the future of their dreams.

People are funny. That’s because we’re emotional beings. We have big dreams for our futures whether that future is the coming weekend or retirement in 25 years. We envision grand adventures, but few of us invest the time and effort required to make those grand plans a reality. Granted, it’s easier to make things happen for a weekend of fun or entertainment just because of our enthusiasm. It’s a bit harder to get and stay enthusiastic about something that may not happen until a much later stage of life.

Use the following words to help people gain perspective on the need to plan and act today in order to have the tomorrow’s of their dreams. [Read more…]

In order to be successful in real estate in the long run, it’s important to learn strategies for servicing listings well. In an active market, and when your listings are priced right for that market, you won’t spend much time servicing listings because they’ll sell quickly. You’ll spend more time monitoring transactions through to completion.

But we aren’t always in an active market. And, in any market, there are properties that appeal to only a small percentage of the available buyers. So you’ll need to know how to service listings over a period of time until the right buyers are found.

The Champion sets the sellers up for a smooth running relationship at the time the listing is taken. He tells them what to expect, what the market is doing, and how prospective buyers and the agents working with those buyers will operate. Then the Champion stays in regular contact with those sellers until the listing sells. [Read more…]

If you’re not already the top sales person in your company, you may have some pre-conceived notions about what that person is like. When you hear the phrase, “Closing the Sale,” what comes to mind? Aggressive? Intimidating? Persuasive? I feel “Closing the Sale” is helping people make decisions that are good for them. The key words here are “good for them.” If you plan to be in the automotive business any length of time, you’d better get a handle on that point or your career will dead-end quicker than you can say, “lickety-split.”

We have a tendency to think that everybody closes sales in the same manner. This is not so. In fact, many salespeople who close sales are not even sure how they do it. Some earn tremendous incomes and can’t really pinpoint why they are so successful. I’ve visited with top salespeople in many fields and I’ve asked them, “Tell me how you close the sale?” They’ve replied, “Well, I just do,” or “It just happens.” That’s not true, but they’ve never sat down and analyzed what it is they do that has made them so successful.

I’m going to outline some tactics and strategies that have been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to work for everyone when you adapt them to your personality, when you adapt them to the way you speak, and to your style of delivery.

The profile of great closing sales people

The very first thing is they have committed themselves to become students of techniques. What does that mean? It means they commit to selling and make it a part of their lives so that every day they are students. They constantly search for new techniques by attending seminars, reading books, listening to audio programs and then striving to incorporate at least one new technique or concept they have learned into each selling situation.

Another part of closing sales is that you must have the ability to get people to like you and trust you. If they like you and trust you, they won’t fight the sales process. However, if they don’t like you and trust you, not only will the strategies not work, they’ll backfire and your clients will feel you are getting pushy. Radiate empathy, but also have the ability to call for a decision and close the sale.

Top salespeople have confidence. Have you ever lacked confidence? Have you ever been wary of meeting new people? Sure! Everyone has. We overcome this by learning certain phrases, learning to ask the right questions and by doing this we can build our confidence–just by using the words and making them our own.

Do you know what the greatest closing tool of all is? It’s one word and that word is Enthusiasm–enthusiasm for what you do. I don’t mean the type of enthusiasm that is outward, bubbly, ranting and raving–but the enthusiasm that you have inside that people feel you have for your industry, your product and your career.

To build your enthusiasm, commit to living by the four P’s.

The first one is Preplan. Preplan every presentation. Before you meet your clients, preplan. Before you demonstrate a vehicle, preplan. Before you handle an ad call, preplan. All professionals preplan–they don’t wing it! They don’t just get in front of a qualified decision-maker and start talking. They know exactly where they are going and have their strategies and techniques planned out in advance.

The second P is Practice. What were all of us taught? Practice makes perfect. I’d like to change that to Perfect practice makes Perfect. There are many people who practice what doesn’t work. They watch an incompetent salesperson, not recognizing the incompetence, and they start doing the same thing. The key is to find a professional who has done what you want to do, set your goal to practice what he or she does and then perfect it.

You must always work to Perfect what you do. If ever you feel you know it all, you are in trouble. The more you know, the more you need to know. It’s just like your income. As you sell more vehicles and therefore, increase your income and expand your clientele, you’re going to need to increase your knowledge level. Remember, there is always a better way of saying it–and a better way of doing it. Don’t allow yourself to plateau.

The fourth P is Performance. You are putting on a performance with every client contact. This doesn’t mean you are phony. It means you are saying the right words the right way to get the end result that is in the best interest of your clients. So, when you talk on the phone, when you meet people in the showroom, when you go on a test drive, it’s a performance. Everything you say and do is part of your performance.

Become a student of selling, study the four P’s I have listed above. Watch what the top people in your dealership are doing, and search for new techniques and you’ll start closing more sales!

In consumer sales, you will often have the opportunity to sell to couples the opportunity of owning your product or service. In many cases, they will close each other on the sale. That’s my favorite time! When one or the other spouse is favorable to the decision, don’t jump right in to close. Wait to see how they work through the decision.

There will, however, more likely be times when they’ll both sit on the fence. When that happens, I suggest trying The Best Things in Life Close. What you do when using this close is to compare this buying decision to other decisions they have made and have been happy with. It’s especially helpful when they’ve admitted they want the product, but they’re just struggling with saying “yes.”

Here’s what I recommend you say: “Isn’t it true that the only time you have ever really benefited from anything in your life has been when you said ‘yes’ instead of ‘no?’ You said ‘yes’ to your marriage (optional — and I can see how happy you are). You said ‘yes’ to your job, your home, your car — all the things that I’m sure you truly enjoy. You see, when you say ‘yes’ to me, it’s not really me you are saying ‘yes’ to, but all of the benefits that we offer. Those are the things you really want for your family, aren’t they?”

Of course, you would not use the optional phrase of “and I can see how happy you are” if the air is charged with disagreement. However, if they do come across as a happy couple…a united front, give it a try. These words have been proven to change the mood of the sale quickly and help buyers say ‘yes.’

There can be an awkward moment when buyers say no after you’ve asked your closing question. The sales process has been sailing along smoothly with you asking good questions and the buyers giving good answers. Based on their answers, you’ve guided them to just the right product for their needs. Their no feels like you’ve just run into a stop sign that was planted in the middle of the road.

If you aren’t already familiar with the term “assumptive selling,” make a quick study of it. It will change how you think about every sales call. With assumptive selling, you assume that every qualified buyer will own the benefits of your product. You are certain of it. You know in your heart that it’s your obligation to help them to see how much better their lives, or companies will be once they’re “happily involved with” your offering. That mindset could drastically alter your attitude, which would help you then focus all of your thoughts and efforts on that single goal.

Note that the key to success with assumptive selling is that your buyer is truly qualified. That means several things:

They have a need and/or want to satisfy.

Their needs and requirements match up quite nicely with the benefits and services you provide.

The person or people you are speaking with are truly qualified to make the buying decision.

Of all the sales closing questions I teach, the “Money or Nothing” sales close works well with long term purchases. By that I mean, that they will enjoy the benefits of the purchase for a long time. These would be for things such as homes, furniture, special vacations, education, vehicles, and so on.

The point of the close is to increase the value of gaining the benefits beyond the perceived value onto the money the buyer would exchange for those benefits. As with all selling and closing strategies, sincerity is critical. You must first truly believe, based on your conversations with the buyer, that your product is good for them. You also must have received some positive feedback from them. They may just be hesitant to make the commitment.

Here is an example of how to help them perceive the value of the benefits as greater than their money:

Carol, from what you’ve told me, you are excited about the benefits you will gain from this product. (Do a brief benefit summary here to build their emotions toward the purchase.) Nearly everything we purchase seems to depreciate in value, doesn’t it? Because of that, we all have to consider the same point when making purchasing decisions. The primary consideration is: Do we want to retain our money, and potentially watch it depreciate in value or do we want to invest some of it now for things we would enjoy long term?

When you’ve done everything else right leading up to this point: establishing rapport, qualifying, presenting and addressing specific concerns, and determine that you have a good solution for their needs, it becomes your obligation to ask for the business (aka close the sale) in order for them to gain those benefits.

When you are working with purchasing agents or heads of households, they will often try to stall you or dismiss you by saying the purchase of your product just isn’t in their budget. For some, it can become reflexive to say that. Rather than let the impersonal budget stand between you and a potential sale, get them to admit who is in charge of the budget. Then, sell the value of your offering over the value of sticking to something that was created before they even knew your benefits were available. [Read more…]

When someone says they don’t have time for your opportunity, to book a party, or even just to meet with you, with sincerity say, “I understand, Mary. We all have 24 hours in a day, don’t we? Most people work eight hours. Then, they sleep about eight hours. That leaves eight hours every day of what we can call discretionary time. That means, we get to choose how to spend those hours. I like to call it ‘opportunity time.’ What I do with my opportunity time makes all the difference in the amount of success I achieve in my life, don’t you see? A lot of people who take advantage of the benefits our business has to offer only invest a couple of hours a day in the business. They still find that they have plenty of quality time left for family and other obligations. Why not at least consider the potential gain you can get with a relatively small investment of time?”

By asking questions as part of your response to “I just don’t have the time.” you are getting them started agreeing with you. Of course, they’ll agree there are eight hours of discretionary time. It’s simple math. They’ll agree about whatyoudo with your time and once the ‘yes’ momentum is going, more often than not they’ll agree to take a more serious look at your opportunity.

For a free e-book titled, “Helping New People Get Comfortable with Network Marketing,” CLICK HERE.

If you’ve been in sales for more than five minutes, you’ve heard this from a buyer: “I’ll think about it” or “I want to think it over.” It’s almost as natural to them as saying, “No, thanks. Just looking” when asked “May I help you?” Why do they say it so often? Because with average salespeople it works. It stops them dead in their tracks.

But, I know that you don’t want to be average. You have set your sights on being a champion salesperson. Your aim is to serve more clients than the average salesperson. So, you learn and prepare yourself to overcome the most common objections.

So, let me give you the answer you’ve been waiting for. Whenever you hear a buyer say, “I want to think it over,” “We’ll sleep on it,” or “We’ll get back to you,” it’s very likely that they like what you’re offering and are feeling compelled to own it. These stalls are just their way of slowing down that buying momentum because they’re a little afraid to part with their hard-earned money. [Read more…]